Metro Government

Louisville Metro Council announced the schedule for two public hearings on a proposed ordinance to significantly increase the tax rate on most insurance premiums in the city, part of a plan advocated by Mayor Greg Fischer...

Mayor Greg Fischer unveiled a plan on Wednesday to dramatically increase the tax rate on certain insurance premiums over the next four years, in an effort to fill a $65 million budget hole over that time...

In a bold move to keep new tax revenue in-house, small cities are considering matching Metro Council’s proposed increase to the insurance premium tax. To fill a large budget hole created by escalating pension costs, Mayor Greg...

Mayor Greg Fischer warned of the potential of “devastating” cuts to city services and staff layoffs without new tax revenue on Thursday, citing an expected $65 million budget gap over the next four years due the...

City leaders have denounced an apparent hate crime directed at a Hindu temple earlier this week, as it was broken into and desecrated with graffiti. At some point between Sunday night and Tuesday morning, officials said,...

State

A bill was introduced Wednesday in the Kentucky General Assembly just before the filing deadline for legislation that would raise the state gas tax by 10 cents per gallon, in addition to imposing new fees and...

After failed attempts last spring and in a 24-hour special session in December, Kentucky lawmakers will try to pass pension reform once more this session. Filed on the final day for new bills, House Bill 504...

Neil Ramsey announced his official resignation from the Kentucky Retirement Systems board of trustees at its meeting on Thursday, two months after he first announced that he would resign over a legal conflict. Following an Insider...

The Louisville Urban League’s next free felony expungement clinic on March 2 is already fully booked, but in the meantime the nonprofit is seeking legal volunteers to help that clinic run as smoothly as possible for...

A bill that would legalize and regulate wagering on sporting events in Kentucky and earmark tax revenue to the state pension system easily passed through a legislative committee Wednesday morning. House Bill 175 would allow Kentuckians to...

By Perry Bacon Gov. Matt Bevin is unpopular — a poll released in January by Morning Consult found that he ranked 45th among America’s 50 governors in terms of favorability (though, the five below him are no longer...

By Amye Bensenhaver In an era when virtually every public official gives lip service to the importance of transparency and accountability, what is it that motivates a legislator to introduce a bill that abridges these twin goals?...

A radical and punishing rule change proposed by President Donald Trump’s administration would harm immigrant families in Kentucky and across the country. By keeping families from meeting their basic needs, jeopardizing immigration status and taking resources out of communities, the proposal is an affront to our commonwealth.

The “public charge” rule change would count legal participation in programs that help Kentucky families with food, health care and housing against individuals who are moving through legal channels to advance their immigration status. As a result, it would force Kentuckians to make decisions that no parent ever should: Do I apply for Medicaid or SNAP and risk being unable to stay in this country with my children, or do I risk not being able to see a doctor and put food on the table?

Participation in programs isn’t the only thing that counts against immigrant families under the proposed rule. The changes would also put legal status at risk for immigrants who simply have low incomes or who have pre-existing medical conditions. These cruel standards, if applied to all of us, would result in 33 percent of U.S.-born Kentuckians being deemed unacceptable for residency.

Some of Kentucky’s children themselves will be subject to the rule change. Many others live in families with a parent or other relative who would either be subject to a public charge determination, or who would change their behavior out of mistaken fear that getting food assistance, for instance, would harm their immigration status. This latter impact — a well-documented phenomenon called the “chilling effect” — means that the damage from the rule change would extend beyond those directly subject to it.

As with all efforts to take away food, health care and other kinds of assistance from Kentuckians, the harm extends past individual households. A midrange estimate of the chilling effect suggests that Kentucky families will lose $58 million in federal funds, with a ripple effect of $112 million less economic activity in the commonwealth and the loss of 765 jobs. Community organizations, schools and houses of worship work hard to support thriving families and neighborhoods, but we can’t make up through altruism what harmful policy choices take away.

We believe that what matters is how each resident contributes to their community, not how much money we have or whether we are ill. But the proposed rule change puts a price tag on U.S. residency, favoring wealth over the desire to make a better life for oneself and one’s family and community. We encourage everyone who reads this letter to join us in stopping this attack on Kentucky families by going towww.protectingimmigrantfamilies.organd submitting comments against the rule change by Dec. 10, the last day to weigh in.

Ashley Spalding is senior policy analyst for the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.